on the Quran

For greatest ease in understanding, i recommend that you read the Introduction before this Chapter and that you then read this Chapter in the order i recommend There.

on the Quran, by Victor Luis Villalon-Suarez

most recently reviewed on 7/19/2021 at 3:29

improvements since the immediately preceding review: Substituted “everlasting” for “eternal” throughout.

Some of the quotes that follow appear either word for word or in similar words elsewhere in the Quran. For the most part, i have not cited these other ayats.

Saheeh/Sahih International translation.

2.254: the disbelievers—they are the wrongdoers.

2.7: Allah has set a seal upon [the disbelievers’] hearts and upon their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. And for them is a great punishment.

3.131: And fear the Fire, which is prepared for the disbelievers.

90.20: they will be enveloped by the Fire without any opening or window or outlet.

74.28: [Hell-fire] spares not (any sinner), nor does it leave (anything unburnt)! 74.29: Burning the skins!

43.74: the criminals will be in the punishment of Hell, abiding [everlastingly].

2.161: those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers—upon them will be the curse of Allah […], all together, 2.162: [a]biding [everlastingly] [in the Fire]. The punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved.

23.103: those whose scales are light—those are the ones who have lost their souls, […] in Hell, abiding [everlastingly]. 23.104: The Fire will sear their faces […].

2.39: those who disbelieve and deny Our signs—those will be companions of the Fire; they will abide therein [everlastingly].

59.17: they will be in the Fire, abiding [everlastingly] therein. And that is the recompense of the wrongdoers.

4.56: Indeed, those who disbelieve in Our verses—We will drive them into a Fire. Every time their skins are roasted through We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment.

5.37: [The disbelievers] will wish to get out of the Fire, but never are they to emerge therefrom […].

5.71: “And [the wrongdoers] thought there would be no [resulting] punishment, so they became blind and deaf.” But 2.7 and many other ayats state that it is Allah who blinds and deafens, by setting a “seal” over some people’s eyes and ears (6.36 says “take away [your] hearing and [your] sight”), so this is why they become blind and deaf; they do not do so on their own, as 5.71 implies. This is: they are not to blame for their blindness and deafness, and so should not be punished for them. In any case, only Evil punishes. God is interested only in finding Enough Means, in the good every person can do, not in any evil they may have done, and therefore does not blame, nor, consequently, punish.

6.25: “And among them are those who listen to you, but We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it.” Here Allah is said to make the hearts and ears of some insensitive so that they will not understand, thus believe in the signs they perceive. Indeed, 6:36 reads “Only those who hear will respond.” So here Allah is directly said to be the willing cause of disbelief, and thus, combining this with other ayats, of punishment by everlasting Hellfire. Only Evil makes us imperceptive of or unresponsive to God’s signs, with which God surrounds us at all times, seeking to guide us all, even the sadists.

6.35: “if Allah had willed, He would have united them upon guidance.” This ayah states that Allah has the power to guide the disbelievers to belief and thus spare them everlasting torment, but capriciously does not, thus damning them forever. 6.39 reinforces this: “Whomever Allah wills—He leaves astray; and whomever He wills—He puts him on a straight path.” Such a deity is not worth believing in.

3.178: “And let not those who disbelieve ever think that [because] we extend their time [of enjoyment] it is better for them. We only extend it for them so that they may increase in sin […].” This ayah accuses Allah of creating the conditions for the disbelievers to “increase in sin” and thus make themselves even worthier, according to other ayats, of Hell, since disbelief, sin, wrongdoing, are what incurs everlasting punishment.

6.65: “He is the [one] Able to […] confuse you [so you become] sects and make you taste the violence of one another.” So it is Allah’s will that some of us, out of confusion of which Allah is the source, disbelieve (sects deviate from the straight path, hence disbelieve in some signs or their true interpretations) and suffer violence. A hateful deity. And in 6.71, “one whom the devils enticed [to wander] upon the earth confused”, “the devils” are explicitly stated to be sources of confusion, so the combination of 6.65 with 6.71 equates Allah with the devils.

3.32: “Obey Allah and the Messenger.” It should read only “Obey Allah.” To add “the Messenger” is Taghut, idolatry, polytheism, as it creates another source of authority besides Allah. If all the Messenger teaches is from Allah, then obeying the Messenger is obeying Allah and the addition of “the Messenger” is superfluous. At most what could be said is “Obey Allah, and therefore the Messenger”. And the command to obey is legitimate, thus to be followed, only if those to whom it is issued prefer to any alternative the reward its context promises for obeying it: everlasting life in Paradise as the Quran describes it.

5.88 (and many others): “fear Allah”: It is only Evil That is to be feared; God is to be Loved.

6.107: “[...] if Allah had willed, they would not have associated [other things with Allah, meaning worshipped other things along with Allah].” Associating other gods with Allah is a sin, thus, in the Quran, incurring Hell (see 17.39: “do not associate any other god with Allah lest you should be thrown into hell […]”). Yet this ayah implies that Allah willed that some associate other gods with Allah in worship and so that they should be “thrown into hell”.

6.110: “We will turn away their hearts and their eyes just as they refused to believe in it the first time. And we will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly.” The “just as” signifies that “their refusal to believe the first time” was due to Allah’s having “turned away their hearts and their eyes”, so through no fault of their own. And that Allah “will leave them in their transgression, wandering blindly” implies Allah could, if He wanted, rescue them. Indeed, “they would not believe unless Allah should will” (6.111). But He prefers to damn them to hell forever, the punishment for transgression, for disbelief, having the power, being almighty, according to the Quran, of blessing us all with life in Paradise.

6.122: “it has been made pleasing for the disbelievers that which they were doing.” The preceding words of this ayah make clear that it is Allah Who makes sin (“that which they were doing”) “pleasing for the disbelievers”, so here Allah is said to drive the sinners to sin by making sin pleasant. And 8:48:, “[…] Satan made their [the disbelievers’] deeds pleasing to them […]”, by saying Satan did what 6.122 says Allah did, make the disbelievers‘ deeds “pleasing” to them—with the very same word, even!— equates Allah with Satan.

6.123: “[…] We have placed within every city the greatest of its criminals to conspire therein.” Crime is unNecessary action. God seeks to do only the good, this is, the Necessary, and so would not knowingly further crime, such as by placing known criminals, let alone the worst of them, in cities, much less to plot crime, as this ayah accuses Allah of doing. And in 6.124, “There will afflict those who committed crimes […] severe punishment for what they used to conspire”, Allah promises “severe punishment” to the criminals for doing what 6.123 says Allah placed them to do: “conspire”.

6.125: “[…] whoever Allah wants to guide—He expands his breast to [contain] Islam; and whoever He wants to misguide—He makes his breast tight and constricted […].” So there are some Allah wants to misguide, this is: to cause to disbelieve, to do wrong, and thus to incur everlasting hellfire, through no fault of their own, since Allah is the cause of their sin.

7.89: “it is not for us to return to [your religion after Allah had saved us from it] except that Allah, our Lord, should will.” So those who, as in many ayats, disbelieve, believe and then disbelieve again do so because Allah wills it, and thereby incur everlasting hellfire, again by Allah’s will.

7.155: “You send astray whom you will.” 7.156, “My punishment—I afflict with it whom I will”, reaffirms this. So Allah, having the power to create all for Paradise

(and Allah is the Creator: 20.50: “[…] Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature […]”; 7.158: “[…] He gives life […]”; and 13:16: “‘Allah is the [c]reator of all things[…].’”),

instead creates some to punish them forever. Nothing can be more evil than this.

7.160: “[…] they wronged Us not, but they were [only] wronging themselves.” Evil is what does Wrong. When it is people doing It, This is actually Evil doing It through us. And to do Wrong is to Wrong God, thus also whichever part of the body and mind of God through whom Evil does the Wrong. So the ayah should read “they wronged Allah, and therefore also themselves.”

9.27: “[…] Allah will accept repentance […] [from] whom He wills; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” So there are some from whom Allah will not accept repentance, so some believers, even if they at first disbelieved, but then repented, whom Allah shall burn forever. This is the opposite of forgiveness and mercy.

9.72: “Allah has promised the believing men and the believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide [everlastingly], […] but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.” Approval is for desired action done. All action is done for a reward, this is, to feel happiness, and this is what makes it desired. So the greatest approval is for the action causing the greatest happiness, this is: for the most desired action. The approval is a side effect of the happiness, not the happiness itself. Otherwise, the approval would be for its own sake, which is circular, thus empty, and thus painful. And 9.89 directly contradicts this ayah: “Allah has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide [everlastingly]. This is the great attainment.” “The great” is equivalent to “the great-est”; “a great” would not be. So here Paradise, not Allah’s approval, is greatest.

10.99: “And had [Allah] willed, those on earth would have believed—all of them entirely.” So Allah has the power to bless all with Paradise, the reward for belief, but instead chooses to cause some to disbelieve and thus incur Hell, through no fault of their own, since Allah is the cause of what in turn causes Allah to punish them.

10.100: “And it is not for a soul to believe except by permission of Allah[…].” So Allah does not permit some souls to believe, having the power to permit them to do so, and thus damns them to Hell when “He” could permit them to believe in order to bless them with Paradise. So in some cases He chooses to cause everlasting pain when He could just as well cause everlasting happiness. I can think of nothing worse. This god is not worth believing in.

18.23-24: “do not say of anything, ‘I will do that tomorrow,’ without adding ‘God willing[,’] […].” Even God cannot, thus does not, know before Heaven what of what God wills is good and what evil, other than that the good happen, happiness without pain. So what one should say is: “If it is good, so be it. If not, not.” Or, in Spanish: “Si es bueno, que sea. Si no, no.”